Expertise

Originally Published October 2009
http://bsminfo.com/article.mvc/Repeatable-Success-Is-Key-To-Document-Imaging-0001
by Gennifer Biggs

PIF Technologies (PIF Tech) partners with only one vendor for its document imaging offering - DocSTAR. President of PIF Tech Sam Ruddy has experimented with others, but has not found a product that works as well for his customers. "Plus, this vendor and its products help us stay competitive; each upgrade helps us expand in a new direction or market," he says. He believes vendors must lead the charge when it comes to educating channel partners about technology evolutions and vertical market potential. "Things change so fast that we need help knowing where to move to stay ahead."

PIF Tech has concentrated on diversifying its vertical play, although it does see the most success with manufacturing, distribution, and medical customers. "You can never put all your eggs in one business vertical. That is why we are constantly out there looking for new markets," says Ruddy. DocSTAR plays a big role in helping PIF Tech accomplish that by coordinating outreach - meetings and research with partners plus email surveys of existing customers. DocSTAR then shares that information with its partners. "They tell us this market is strong in California, that market is booming in the Midwest, and all that information gives us ideas about opportunities we might be missing," says Ruddy.

For example, PIF Tech is still taking advantage of a product DocSTAR developed with a partner who was working with local government agencies to digitize land plot drawings and property maps. A DocSTAR product customization allows local government customers to offer archived land plots/maps digitally, either through a Web portal or via a computer terminal in the government office. "Rather than a landowner putting in a request and waiting for someone to physically retrieve the documents out of an archive and copy them, the request is handled through the document imaging system, and the landowner can just print it out right there," explains Ruddy. PIF Tech started selling the local government package after attending a handful of educational seminars and webinars hosted by DocSTAR. "The local government market was one we would never have thought of, and then we saw this product idea. Obviously, it is a great solution, and we've had success with it."